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EF1 tornado in Rockingham County, Virginia

Tornado April 28, 2011 · Rockingham County, Virginia

EF1
Rating
2.6 mi
Path length
150 yd
Path width
$75K
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 150 yards (0.09 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

A tornado touched down along Osceola Springs Road causing tree damage. The tornado proceeded to Boyer Road uprooting and snapping several trees. The tornado also caused structural damage to two homes by lifting their roofs. Two barn roofs were damaged and a metal shed was knocked down. A livestock trailer was also moved several feet.

The wider storm

A strong cold front slowly passed through the region during the morning and early afternoon hours of the 28th. A southerly flow ahead of the front caused deep moisture over the area. The deep moisture combined with a mid-level trough to produce moderate amounts of instability. The cold front combined with the instability to trigger showers and thunderstorms. Some thunderstorms were able to mix down strong winds from aloft.

Low level wind speed and direction changed rapidly with height causing tornadoes to develop in some of the stronger thunderstorms.

Began near Pleasant Vly (38.3880, -78.8650).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

4 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

EF2 Rockingham CountyEF1 Augusta CountyEF1 Rockingham CountyEF0 Frederick County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 302251. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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